3ds Max frequently used Modifiers

Hello guys! After some time of absence I am back with a new tutorial and i promiss to post something every night from now on, or at an interval of two days. Let's start... This tutorial is purely theoretical starting by tomorrow to apply them in practice, but, for starters let's make a small summary about each one.
Done with talkin. This tutorial is about modifiers. 

Modifiers are the basic tools for modeling and reshaping objects. Following is a list of the modifiers frequently used:

1. - Taper - The Taper modifier produces a tapered contour by scaling both ends of an object's geometry; one end is scaled up, and the other is scaled down. You can control the amount and curve of the taper on two sets of axes. You can also limit the taper to a section of the geometry.
   
   - FFD - FFD stands for Free-Form Deformation. Its effect is used in computer animation for things like dancing cars and gas tanks. You can use it as well for modeling rounded shapes such as chairs and sculptures. The FFD modifier surrounds the selected geometry with a lattice. By adjusting the control points of the lattice, you deform the enclosed geometry.
   
   There are three FFD modifiers, each providing a different lattice resolution: 2x2x2, 3x3x3, and 4x4x4. The 3x3x3 modifier, for example, provides a lattice with three control points across each of its dimensions, resulting in nine on each side of the lattice.
   - Bend - The Bend modifier lets you bend the current selection up to 360 degrees about a single axis, producing a uniform bend in an object's geometry. You can control the angle and direction of the bend on any of three axes. You can also limit the bend to a section of the geometry.
   

   

   - Shell - The Shell modifier “solidifies” or gives thickness to an object by adding an extra set of faces facing the opposite direction of existing faces, plus edges connecting the inner and outer surfaces wherever faces are missing in the original object. You can specify offset distances for the inner and outer surfaces, characteristics for edges, material IDs, and mapping types for the edges.
   

   

   - Edit Splines - Editable Spline provides controls for manipulating an object as a spline object and at three sub-object levels: vertex, segment, and spline.
   - Skin - The Skin modifier is a skeletal deformation tool that lets you deform one object with another object. Mesh, patch, or NURBS objects can be deformed by bones, splines, and other objects.
   

   Applying the Skin modifier and then assigning bones gives each bone a capsule-shaped "envelope." Vertices of the modified object within these envelopes move with the bones. Where envelopes overlap, vertex motion is a blend between the envelopes.

   - Extrude - The Extrude modifier adds depth to a shape and makes it a parametric object.
   

   

   

   
   

   Amount
   
   

   Sets the depth of the extrusion.

   Segments

   Specifies the number of segments that will be created in the extruded object.

   - Lattice - The Lattice modifier converts the segments or edges of a shape or object into cylindrical struts with optional joint polyhedra at the vertices. Use this either to create renderable structural geometry based on the mesh topology, or as an alternate method to achieve a rendered wireframe effect.
   

   

   - Lathe - Lathe creates a 3D object by rotating a shape or NURBS curve about an axis.
   - UVW Map - By applying mapping coordinates to an object, the UVW Map modifier controls how mapped and procedural materials appear on the surface of an object. Mapping coordinates specify how bitmaps are projected onto an object. The UVW coordinate system is similar to the XYZ coordinate system. The U and V axes of a bitmap correspond to the X and Y axes. The W axis, which corresponds to the Z axis, is generally only used for procedural maps. A bitmap's coordinate system can be switched in the Material Editor to VW or WU, in which case the bitmap is rotated and projected so that it is perpendicular to the surface.
   
   

   

   
   

   

   - Spherify - The Spherify modifier distorts an object into a spherical shape. This modifier has only one parameter: a Percent spinner that deforms the object, as much as possible, into a spherical shape.
   
   

   
   

   Spherify shapes the dog inside the snake.

   The success of the operation depends on the topology of the geometry to which it's applied. For example, a cylinder with no height segments will result in little change. Adding height segments will result in a barrel at 100 percent. Adding cap segments will produce a sphere.

   - MeshSmooth - The MeshSmooth modifier smoothes geometry in your scene by means of several different methods. It lets you subdivide the geometry while interpolating the angles of new faces at corners and edges, and apply a single smoothing group to all faces in the object. The effect of MeshSmooth is to round over corners and edges as if they had been filed or planed smooth. Use MeshSmooth parameters to control the size and number of new faces, and how they affect the surface of the object.
   
   

   

   - TurboSmooth - The TurboSmooth modifier, like MeshSmooth, smoothes geometry in your scene.
   

   The differences between the two are as follows:

   
   

   • TurboSmooth is considerably faster and more memory-efficient than MeshSmooth. TurboSmooth also has an option for Explicit Normals, unavailable in MeshSmooth.
   • TurboSmooth provides a limited subset of MeshSmooth functionality. In particular, TurboSmooth uses a single smoothing method (NURMS), can be applied only to an entire object, has no sub-object levels, and outputs a triangle-mesh object.

   TurboSmooth lets you subdivide the geometry while interpolating the angles of new faces at corners and edges, and apply a single smoothing group to all faces in the object. The effect of TurboSmooth is to round over corners and edges as if they had been filed or planed smooth. Use TurboSmooth parameters to control the size and number of new faces, and how they affect the surface of the object.

   - Surface - The Surface modifier generates a patch surface based on the contours of a spline network. A patch is created wherever the segments of the interwoven splines form a three- or four-sided polygon. The Surface modifier and the CrossSection modifier, taken together, are referred to as Surface Tools. They allow you to create complex or organic surfaces, like the fuselage of a plane, or a three-dimensional character.
   - Stretch - The Stretch modifier simulates the traditional animation effect of "squash-and-stretch." Stretch applies a scale effect along a specified stretch axis and an opposite scale along the two remaining minor axes.
   

   The amount of opposite scaling on the minor axes varies, based on distance from the center of the scale effect. The maximum amount of scaling occurs at the center and falls off toward the ends.

   - Displace - The Displace modifier acts as a force field to push and reshape an object's geometry. You can apply its variable force directly from the modifier gizmo, or from a bitmapped image.
   
   

   

   Good for creating landscapes, this will lets load bitmaps or map with black and white shades that predicts extrusion depending on that.
   - Slice - The Slice modifier lets you use a cutting plane to slice through a mesh, creating new vertices, edges and faces based on the location of the slice plane gizmo. The vertices can either refine (subdivide) or split the mesh, and you can also remove the mesh from one side of the plane.
   

   The Slice modifier slices through groups, selected objects or sub-object selections of faces. It works similarly to the Editable mesh Edge  Slice function but does not require the object to be an editable mesh or poly.

   
   

   

   - Noise - The Noise modifier modulates the position of an object's vertices along any combination of three axes. This important animation tool simulates random variations in an object's shape.
   

   Using a fractal setting, you can achieve random, rippling patterns, like a flag in the wind. With fractal settings, you can also create mountainous terrain from flat geometry.

   You can apply the Noise modifier to any kind of object. The Noise gizmo changes shape to help you visualize the effects of changing parameter settings. The results of the Noise modifier are most noticeable on objects that have greater numbers of faces.

   Most of the Noise parameters have an animation controller. The only keys set by default are for Phase.

   
   

   
   

   Plane with no noise applied

   
   

   
   

   Adding texture to the plane creates a calm sea.

   
   

   
   

   Plane with fractal noise applied

   
   

   
   Source: http://docs.autodesk.com/